Recent News
Cal Poly Named Best in the West by U.S. News and California’s Best Public-Master’s University by Forbes
Sep 14, 2018
Cal Poly has been named the best public, master’s-level university in the West by U.S. News & World Report’s annual America’s Best Colleges guidebook for the 26th straight year. The 2019 guidebook lists Cal Poly in 12th place overall in the West for all regional universities. The Western regional list includes public and private institutions in 15 states that provide “a full range of undergraduate and master’s-level programs but few doctoral programs.” (Universities that grant doctoral degrees, such as those in the University of California system, are listed in a separate category.)
The U.S. News ranking comes on the heels of Forbes naming Cal Poly the No. 1 public masters-level university in the west. “Each of these rankings on its own is an honor; taken together, they paint a clear picture of how Cal Poly is succeeding in its mission to prepare students to be innovative leaders in their careers and solve real-world problems in a global marketplace,” President Armstrong said. “Our faculty and staff work diligently every day with our amazing students to create our renowned Learn by Doing environment. Their efforts are paying off.” The U.S. News rankings methodology focuses on academic excellence, with schools evaluated on hundreds of data points and measures of academic quality, such as graduation and freshman retention rates. Forbes’ methodology favors variables such as alumni salary, student debt, and retention and graduation rates instead of more common metrics such as acceptance rates, endowment amounts and freshmen SAT scores. Read more here and here.
AB 2385 Signed into Law!
Aug 29, 2018
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2385 into law which calls on college textbook publishers to inform students about the differences in textbook editions. The Cal Poly Bill Project class gave students the opportunity to draft a bill and work with state legislators to potentially pass the bill through the California state legislature. Students from the CA Bill Project class worked with Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, former Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian and faculty advisor Dr. Chris Den Hartog to research and draft the bill throughout the 17-18 academic school year. Earlier this year, students traveled to Sacramento to advocate their support for the bill. For more information, please visit KSBY and The Tribune.
Students present at the 43rd Annual Social Science Student Symposium
May 7, 2018
Three Political Science students, Mira Seyal, Connor Hennessey-Niland, and Ashley Therien presented their research at the 43rd Annual Social Science Student Symposium at Cal State Long Beach over the weekend. The CSU SSRIC Social Science Student Symposium (S4) is modeled on professional conferences in the social sciences where students, from all CSU campuses and California community colleges, in all areas of the social sciences, are able to present their research to their peers.
- Mira Seyal. "The Human Rights Movement: A Failure to Secure Group Rights"
- Connor Hennessey-Niland. "Regional Hegemony in the Arctic: The Push for Arctic Dominance"
- Ashley Therien. "Exploring New Frontiers: Space Is Not Apolitical"
MUN New York and LA
May 3, 2018
2018 Cal Poly Model United Nations Students Travel to New York and LA
New York Model UN
UCLA Model UN
The Cal Poly Model United Nations team spent a weekend in Hollywood participating in UCLA’s 13th annual Model UN conference. Students represented a variety of countries on a multitude of topics. These included Saudi Arabia on the topic of protecting Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, a state councilor of China on the topic of the One Belt, One Road Initiative, and South Africa on the topic of artificial intelligence and humanitarian aid. The students enjoyed exploring Universal City Walk as well as local Hollywood sites. Students were privileged to hear Karen Richardson, who previously served as a state policy advisor for former President Obama, and currently works in the leadership of the Time’s Up movement, speak at LAMUN’s opening ceremonies.
Students Testify in Sacramento
Apr 24, 2018
Students from the California Bill Project testified before the Committee on Higher Education in the California State Assembly in support of their bill (AB 2385) on Tuesday, 24 April 2018. You can listen or watch the hearing or read the information sheet for AB 2385. Students traveled to Sacramento to advocate their support for the bill they researched and drafted on textbook transparency. Lindsey Wallace, Ivana Medina, and Chase Dean testified during the hearing.
MPP Students Present at WPSA Conference
Mar 29, 2018
Congratulations to MPP students Megan Marques, Philip Goodwin and Kristin Ventresca for their performances at the 2018 Western Political Science Association conference!
Mock Trial wins awards at UC Irvine Tournament
Jan 31, 2018
Congratulations to Cal Poly’s Mock Trial A and B Teams for their awesome performance at UCI this past weekend. Jesse Quiroz and Elizabeth Paxson brought home attorney awards and Lauren Turner and Garrett Rutherford earned witness awards!
Congratulations Fall 2017 Graduates!
Dec 12, 2017
(Photo credit, Victoria Tonikian 2017)
The faculty and staff of the Political Science Department congratulate the Fall 2017 Graduates! We are immensely proud of your work and accomplishments! Please keep in touch and let us know where your next step takes you.
A Partner in Learn by Doing
Nov 22, 2017
Alumnus Tim Humphreys gives back to create more Learn by Doing opportunities for Cal Poly political science students.
Mock Trial Accrues Awards With Alacrity
Nov 14, 2017
Cal Poly Mock Trial enjoyed another successful weekend competing at an invitational tournament. At UC Irvine’s Anteater Invitational, three Cal Poly teams earned invitations and competed against some of the best teams in California and Arizona.
Lauren Turner (ENGL) and Teagan Allen (ARCE) earned “Top Witness” awards, while Marco Tueros (POLS) took home a “Top Attorney” award. Cal Poly Coach, Justin Cooley, also took home the tournament’s coveted “Best Judge” award.
Next week, the Mustang Mockers will be in action again at UCSD’s Wlodarczyk Invitational Tournament.